Autopsy and release of the body in Peru: what can the family ask for?

When the prosecutor steps in

If your relative died violently, or in circumstances that suggest a crime, the body does not go straight to the funeral home. First comes the levantamiento de cadáver, the official removal of the body. Article 195 of the Código Procesal Penal says:

“1. Cuando se trate de una muerte sospechosa de haber sido causada por un hecho punible, se procederá al levantamiento del cadáver, de ser posible, con participación de personal policial especializado en criminalística, haciendo constar en acta. 2. El levantamiento de cadáver lo realizará el Fiscal, con la intervención -de ser posible- del médico legista y del personal policial especializado en criminalística. […] El Fiscal según las circunstancias del caso, podrá delegar la realización de la diligencia en su adjunto, o en la Policía, o en el Juez de Paz.”

(When a death is suspected to have been caused by a crime, the body is removed and a record is made. The prosecutor does this, with a forensic doctor and specialist police where possible, and may delegate it to a deputy, the police or a justice of the peace.)

The prosecutor (fiscal) is in charge from that moment, even if someone else carries out the removal. Anything you ask for later, such as release, an extra autopsy or cremation, goes through that prosecutor’s office.

The required autopsy does not need the family’s consent

Article 196 of the Código Procesal Penal, as amended by Ley 31212, says:

“1. Cuando sea probable que se trate de un caso de criminalidad se practicará la necropsia para determinar la causa de la muerte.”

(When a crime is probable, an autopsy is done to determine the cause of death.)

The Ley General de Salud separates kinds of autopsy. Its article 109 covers the one done “por razones médico-legales” (for medico-legal reasons), when the law requires it or a judge orders it, or to identify the deceased. It ends:

“Sólo la necropsia por razones clínicas requiere de la autorización a que se refiere el Artículo 47 de la presente ley.”

(Only the clinical autopsy requires the authorization in article 47.)

A clinical autopsy is one a hospital does to review the quality of its own care. That one does need the patient’s or the family’s authorization (article 47). Article 47 also says a clinical autopsy is not done when the circumstances require the legal autopsy. In practice: if a crime is suspected, the family cannot refuse the autopsy.

We know this is hard to read. The autopsy establishes the cause of death, and that can be decisive for the investigation and for any claim the family makes later.

Accidents, disasters and epidemics: the family can ask for one

Article 196(2) covers other cases:

“2. En caso de muerte producida por accidente en un medio de transporte, o como resultado de un desastre natural o enfermedad epidémica o pandémica que implique la declaratoria de emergencia sanitaria nacional, regional o local, en que las causas de la misma sea consecuencia directa de estos hechos, no será exigible la necropsia sin perjuicio de la identificación del cadáver antes de la entrega a sus familiares. Es obligatoria la necropsia al cadáver de quien tenía a cargo la conducción del medio de transporte siniestrado. En los demás casos se practica a solicitud de parte o de sus familiares.”

(When the death is the direct result of a transport accident, a natural disaster, or an epidemic under a declared health emergency, an autopsy is not required, but the body must be identified before release. The driver always gets one. In other cases it is done at the request of a party or the family.)

If you have doubts about how your relative died, ask the prosecutor’s office for an autopsy in writing.

Who performs it and who may attend

Article 196(3) says:

“3. La necropsia será practicada por peritos. El Fiscal decidirá si él o su adjunto deban presenciarla. Al acto pueden asistir los abogados de los demás sujetos procesales e incluso acreditar peritos de parte.”

(Experts perform the autopsy. The prosecutor decides whether they or a deputy attend. Lawyers for the other parties may attend, and party-appointed experts may be accredited.)

If the family takes part in the criminal case, its lawyer can attend and a party expert can be accredited. See a lawyer early, because the autopsy happens quickly.

When and how the body is released

None of the norms we read sets a maximum time for the morgue to release the body. What exists is the procedure the Public Prosecutor’s Office described in an official August 2024 note about its morgues:

• On release of the body: “Solo se realiza una vez culminada la necropsia.” (It happens only once the autopsy is finished.)
• The body goes to a close relative. If there is none, “la fiscalía puede autorizar la entrega del cadáver a un ciudadano que lo solicite, mediante un oficio dirigido a la Unidad de Tanatología Forense” (the prosecutor’s office can authorize release to a person who asks, by written order to the forensic morgue unit).
• “El familiar recibe certificado de necropsia, constancia de inhumación y certificado de defunción.” (The relative receives the autopsy certificate, a burial record and the death certificate.)
• “Si el cadáver lleva más de 24 horas en la Unidad de Tanatología Forense, el familiar deberá cancelar S/.46.70 (según TUPA del IML), por cada día de conservación.” (After more than 24 hours at the morgue, the relative pays a daily storage fee.) That was the 2024 amount; confirm the current one at the morgue.

There is one more reason not to wait. Article 114 of the Ley General de Salud says:

“Los cadáveres de personas no identificadas o, que habiendo sido identificados, no hubieren sido reclamados dentro del plazo de treintiséis (36) horas luego de su ingreso a la morgue, podrán ser dedicados a fines de investigación o estudio.”

(Bodies that are unidentified, or identified but not claimed within 36 hours of arriving at the morgue, may be used for research or study.)

If you know your relative is at the morgue, go, or send someone, as soon as you can.

If a clinic or hospital holds the body

The above is about the Public Prosecutor’s morgue. If the person died in a private clinic and it makes release of the body or the certificate depend on payment, read patient detention for non-payment.

Embalming and cremation

Article 197 of the Código Procesal Penal says:

“Cuando se trate de homicidio doloso o muerte sospechosa de criminalidad, el Fiscal, previo informe médico, puede autorizar o disponer el embalsamamiento a cargo de profesional competente, cuando lo estime pertinente para los fines del proceso. En ese mismo supuesto la incineración sólo podrá ser autorizada por el Juez después de expedida sentencia firme.”

(In an intentional homicide or a death suspected to be a crime, the prosecutor may authorize or order embalming after a medical report. In the same situation, cremation can only be authorized by the judge after a final judgment.)

If a homicide or suspected crime is being investigated, do not plan on an early cremation: the law leaves that decision to the judge, after a final judgment. The other exception is article 112 of the Ley General de Salud: “Todo cadáver que haga posible la propagación de enfermedades será cremado previa necropsia.” (Any body that could spread disease is cremated after an autopsy.)

The death certificate

In these cases the morgue gives you the death certificate with the other documents, according to the Public Prosecutor’s Office. You use it to register the death with Reniec. How that works, what it costs and how to get copies is on death certificate registration and copies.

What this page does not cover

We did not review the Ley General de Salud regulation on dead bodies, the Instituto de Medicina Legal fee schedule, or the Public Prosecutor’s manual on body removal. We do not cover how to join the criminal case as a party, repatriating a body abroad, organ donation, or deaths outside Peru. We also give no deadline for release of the body, because the norms we read do not set one.